One choice
by Conner K
Summary: Superboy is faced with a decision that could change the course of not only his life, but the world as a whole, AU after Season one.
1. Chapter 1

**AN: his everyone this is the first Young Justice story that I'm writing I hope that everyone likes It, Superboy will be getting his full Kryptonian powers in this story but I don't plan on him having the tactile telekinesis just because I'm worried that I'd end up not really having him use it very much. Finally this story starts a few months after the end of season one. **

**Disclaimer: Young Justice is the property of DC comics and Cartoon network.**

Conner couldn't help the small sigh that escaped his lips as he took one last look at the room that had been his sanctuary for the year and three months that he had been free of Cadmus, now barren of the few knickknacks that he had claimed for himself over that time. Knowing that he had made the choice that he still felt was right, he stepped back allowing the door to slide closed. As he walked away the teen of steel couldn't help but to wonder how everything had changed in just four measly months.

**Four months earlier.**

Conner barely suppressed his growl as he followed behind Clark, it wasn't that he didn't like the fact that they were getting along so much better now, or the view from the watch tower which he still thought was breath taking, it was just that Clark had chosen such a bad time to call him away.

Clark could tell that something was bothering his little brother and he wanted to help him with it, but the truth was that he had a lot on his mind as well, mainly the topic of this impromptu meeting. The Man of Steel had been unhappy about it ever since batman had brought it to his attention.

The entirety of the walk to the large meeting room was spent in silent thought, both men to absorbed in their own little worlds to really attempt to strike up a conversation. So Conner couldn't help but to be slightly surprised when they finally entered the room where the league usually held their more important meetings, it wasn't that Conner had never been here before it was that he had never seen the room so empty. The only occupants being Wonder Woman, the Atom, Black Canary, and of course the Batman.

Clark couldn't help the rather angry glare that was currently sat upon his face, but at the same time he had been forced to agree with Bruce in the fact that not only did Conner have the right to know, but more than that it was his choice and his alone, no matter how much Clark disliked the idea. So with a somewhat resolute sigh Clark took his usual seat in between Bruce and Diana, leaving Conner facing the five leaguers by himself.

Conner did his best to stand firm under the watch of the five older hero's, but the truth was that since his time in the pod Conner had never felt more exposed then he did right now. A fact that inspired a no small amount of fear in the teen of steel, a fact that angered the teen more then he cared to admit right now.

After two minutes of no one saying anything Conner was about ready to burst and simply ask why the heck they had called him up here, before he could though a small display in front of Batman came to like projecting a three dimensional model of a DNA strand.

"Superboy" Batman began yanking the teen of steels attention from the aforementioned model to the Bat themed hero. "Last year when you were first freed from Cadmus, I took the claim that you were a direct clone of Superman at face value, an oversight that should never have been made. But after discovering your connection to Luthor, I went back over your genetics." The dark knight stated causing Conner to raise a single eyebrow in confusion.

So what Batman went over his genetics and can now confirm the fact that the human half of his genetics comes from Alexander "Lex" Luthor, did they really need to yank him into the watch tower for that.

"My study proved Luthor's claim that the human half of your genetic coding is in fact his, but the truth is that as you are now, he would have deemed you as a failure." Batman bluntly stated causing many of the leaguers to send somewhat angry glares at him, not that he paid them any attention mind you. "Taking that fact into consideration I began to dig a little deeper" Bruce continued.

Conner was rather shocked, what exactly was Batman trying to tell him, would Lex have really considered him a failure like he had with Match, and if so then why wasn't he either destroyed or deep frozen like Match had been.

"A simple look at your DNA would prove that your Kryptonian genetics are the dominant, but even still your DNA is so well mixed that your human half shouldn't be impairing your abilities at all." Batman stated, accompanied with a simple flick of his fingers across the keyboard that sat beside him, the hologram of what Conner had come to realize must be his DNA Exploded before coming to focus on one of the cross sections, the curious thing though was the fact that mid way through the display was a silver patch.

"Upon closer inspection I discovered a number of these unique silver patch's dotted along your Genetic structure and with the help of Dr. Palmer, we deduced that they were what caused you to lack complete Kryptonian powers." The dark knight finished, causing Conner's eyes to widen. That was what prevented him from having his true abilities, but what wore they.

"What are they?" the teen of steel asked having run through a number of scenarios already.

"Inhibitors" Dr. Palmer stated, causing Conner's eyes to fly to the man. Inhibitors, how was that possible as far as he currently understood the smallest they could condense inhibitor technology down to was the color that they made inmates at certain prisons wear. More than that though it raised questions about those patches that Luthor had given him, after all the inhibitor technology was designed to completely prevent the use of those abilities, a fact that the teen raised.

"That's very true Superboy, my best speculation currently is that because Luthor designed both the inhibitor technology, as well as the patches it's most likely that the patches disabled the inhibitors allowing your full ability to flourish." Dr. Palmer answered as he looked directly at Conner.

The younger half Kryptonian couldn't help but to stare at the older man as he contemplated what the older man had just said before acknowledging that it made sense. That being the case Conner was once again left with the painful conclusion that he would never have his full abilities, leaving a rather hollow feeling pit in his stomach. Although another question about the inhibitors was quick to force its way to the forefront of Conner's mind.

"How did Luthor manage to get these inhibitors attached where he did?" The reaction to his question was instant as both the Atom and Batman turned to look at each other as if they hadn't taken the time to consider that question themselves.

"My best guess Superboy, is that they were placed when you were either still a fetus or before." Dr. Palmer stated as he looked back at the teen. Bruce sighed, they had put off why they had brought Conner here longer then he thought necessary.

"Whether that's the case or not, it's not why we brought you here Superboy, both Dr. Palmer and I believe that there may be a way to remove the inhibitors." He knew that he had the boy's attention the instant that he finished that sentence, as the boys unnaturally blue eyes bore into his own.

Conner was frozen was that true did they actually have a way that would allow him to have all his abilities. If that was the case why hadn't they started with that fact and then gone into the long explanation.

"Really, How?" Conner asked barely able to contain his excitement.

"The inhibitors are still machines, and like all machines they do have certain weaknesses." Dr. Palmer started as he looked at the teen, he could now fully understand Superman and Black Canary's worry, just bringing up the fact that he may be able to get his full powers and the boy seemed ready to jump at the possibility, without even knowing the dangers of what they planned.

"Weaknesses like electricity for example." The size altering hero stated.

"I've been electrocuted before." Conner stated as if to say that obviously it wouldn't work.

"Yes but because of the invulnerability granted to you by the Kryptonian half of your DNA, the inhibitors have been protected from the electroshocks, but if we were to say nullify said invulnerability then the inhibitors would be subjected to the shocks." Dr. Palmer said watching as the teen seemed to contemplate the idea before looking back at them.

"How would we nullify my invulnerability?" Conner asked, he had noticed the way that Superman had been acting the longer the conversation continued and he couldn't help but to suspect that there was something that they weren't telling him.

Clark couldn't be more proud of his little brother, after all he had been somewhat worried that Conner would jump at the chance to have all the abilities that he should without asking any real questions, and he knew that he wasn't the only one as he noticed the way that Bruce's lips quirked at the edges as if suppressing a smile.

"That's where it gets into the potentially dangerous part of this, because to do this we'd have to expose you not only to red solar radiation to weaken your usual Kryptonian abilities, but also to kryptonite to weaken you further before we could begin administering the electricity, Which with how weak you would be at that point may kill you." Dr. Palmer stated the painful truth.

Conner couldn't help but to stare at the doctor, no wonder Clark seemed so against this idea, yes he had figured out that his older brother was against the idea it wasn't hard considering that he had been glaring the entire time. And at first he thought it might be because Clark wanted to remain the only one to have full Kryptonian powers, an thought that he had quickly through out. So he had figured that he'd simply find out later and now he knew.

Clark looked sadly at his little brother, after all he had been completely against the idea since he found out that particular possibility, but for Conner it was his life that would be on the line. Clark didn't think that he could properly guess just what must be going through the teen's mind right now.

For Bruce though he faced the possibility of death every time that he went out at night, but for a boy as young as Conner was the decision that he had to make was one that the dark knight didn't envy.

Conner ran through everything that he had heard and began running the pro's and con's, as well as the potential damage that could be done if things went wrong and he did die, but truth be told Conner wasn't sure what he should do. If this option had been given to him a year ago he would have jumped at the chance, but now he had a family in Clark and his parents both of whom had taken him in as their youngest son. Then there was the family that he had made with his team, because though they never said it out loud he knew that Wally, Dick, and Kaldur all viewed him as a sibling and he felt the same. And then finally there was Megan he wasn't sure if what he felt for her was love or not, but he did know that he cared about her a lot, more than just about anyone else. So that left the question can he actually go through with this theory, and then leave them behind if it fails and he dies, He didn't know.

"I need time to think about this." Conner finally said as he turned and left the room, no one stood to try and go after the teen; in fact many of them felt that it showed how far he had come to not just jump on the possibility.

Robin couldn't help but to laugh as he once again beat Wally at the racing game that they were playing when he heard the computer announce Conner's return from the watchtower. He was about to ask Conner if he wanted to join in when he noticed the older boys face, it was obvious to anyone looking at him that he was deep in thought.

Conner barely ran his hand over Wolfs head as he passed the large canine, it was actually more muscle memory then any real thought on the boys part, as he continued into the garage to begin tinkering with his motorcycle. He had figured out early on that he was able to process information easier if he was tinkering with something, a trait that according to ma Kent he shared with most of the male half of the Kent family. He knew that he needed to talk with the team about this before coming to a decision adding yet another thing to his already frantic thoughts.

**AN: okay everyone there's the first chapter, I want to apologize if anyone seemed out of character, I did my best to keep them in character as much as I could but especially with Batman I think I may have goofed up a bit. With all that said I know that the whole inhibitors in his Genetic structure seems a little out there but I needed something that seemed somewhat believable and with Lex involved well who knows what he could do. So please leave a review, let me know anything that I could improve, but please nothing along the lines of this story sucks or stuff like that. So with that said I plan to post the next chapter of ****An Alien in Sunnydale year 2**** first then chapter two for this story will follow.**


	2. Chapter 2

**Disclaimer: I don't own Young Justice; it is the property of DC Comics and Cartoon Network.**

Conner couldn't help but to sigh as he found himself replacing the spark plugs for the fifth time in the past twenty minutes, no matter which way he tried to think it through nothing changed. He still wasn't sure how he was supposed to tell M'gann or the rest of the team about why he had been called up to the watchtower. The teen of steels attention was yanked from the engine by the sound of the doors sliding open, he knew without having to turn around that it was M'gann by the slight lavender aroma coming from behind him.

"Hi Conner." Megan started as she snaked her arms around his shoulders, and placed a light kiss on the dark haired teen's cheek. The Martian girl was worried about her boyfriend she hadn't seen much of him since he got back from the watchtower, but she had felt the mix of emotions raging through his mind. She knew that Conner would never admit to needing help with whatever he was dealing with right now, but at the same time she knew how he would close off if she pushed too hard.

Conner knew that Megan would have picked up the mass amount of conflicting emotions swirling through him, truth be told he was actually surprised that she had left him alone for as long as she had. The teen of steel knew that he still wasn't quite ready to talk about what had happened up at the watchtower, so in an attempt to distract the green skinned beauty he turned his head to the left and pressed his lips against hers initiating a passionate kiss.

M'gann was taken by surprise when she felt him begin to kiss her, but she was quick to reciprocate all thoughts of trying to get to the bottom of whatever was bothering her boyfriend fading from her mind.

Conner smiled slightly into the kiss as he slid backwards pulling M'gann onto his lap as he went, all it took for Conner to deepen the kiss was a gentle prodding against his girlfriends supple lips, and the already kiss deepened into a full on make out session. The two alien teens didn't stop except for the brief inhales, only to smash their lips back together in the age old dance.

Conner smiled as he watched his girlfriend walk away his eyes lingering on her heart shaped backside, his smile faded though the further away she got as the guilt from manipulating her feelings for him began to eat away at him, and before he knew what he was doing the teen of steel had all but ran to catch up to her.

"M'gann stop" Conner said as his hand gently wrapped around the girls bicep, he wasn't sure how he was going to explain everything that happened at the watchtower, but he knew that he couldn't taint their relationship like he had.

M'gann wasn't sure why Conner had stopped her but she could tell by the look on his face that the usually stoic boy was having difficulties with whatever he was trying to say; as such the Martian girl didn't say anything instead giving him her full attention.

"The reason that I was taken up to the watchtower was because they found away for me to get my full Kryptonian abilities." Conner blurted out, taking the green skinned girl by surprise.

"Conner that's great" M'gann said, a large smile splitting her face, she knew that even though Conner never said anything out loud the fact that he wouldn't get full Kryptonian abilities had always bothered him. But by the look on her boyfriends face she wasn't sure that it actually was such a great thing. "Isn't it?"

"It's complicated" Conner sighed as he turned away his right hand running thorough his black locks.

Megan could tell that this was bothering the boy greatly; in fact his thoughts were going so rapidly that she had to make sure that she didn't accidently use her telepathy on him.

"Conner you can tell me." The Martian assured him, while laying her hand gently on his back, hoping that he'd open up.

Conner sighed, he wanted to tell her, he really did, he just didn't know how. How the hell does he explain that the operation that he was considering undergoing, could end up killing him, or worse he survives and ends up like Match. He was about to just blurt out everything that could happen when they were once again interrupted this time by Robin, kid Flash, and Aqualad entering the garage.

"Hey guys" Richard said, his usual boyish grin nowhere to be seen, in fact none of the boys had smiles on their face, all three looking decidedly serious.

M'gann was somewhat startled not only by the fact that they all looked so serious, but also by the fact that they hadn't left as soon as they saw that they were having a private moment like they usually would. She was about to ask what was going on when she accidently picked up on Aqualads thoughts, causing her to release a horrified gasp.

They knew, Conner wasn't sure how they knew but somehow they had found out, and judging by not only M'ganns gasp but also the way that she was now looking at him she had found out as well.

"How'd you find out?" Conner asked as he looked directly at Dick.

"Hacked the watchtowers surveillance" The boy wonder responded, obviously feeling no shame in what he had done.

"So then you know" Conner stated.

"You mean that it could kill you, yeah" Wally spoke up this time, glaring at the boy that he had come to consider as something akin to a sibling,

"Wore you planning on telling us or just up and doing it." Dick asked, taking charge of the conversation again.

Conner wanted to sigh as he looked at the four people who were currently glaring at him; he was rather surprised that Kaldur and M'gann had remained so quiet, but he could tell by the look on their faces that they were immensely angry at him, M'gann especially. He knew that Wally had begun talking probably tearing him a proverbial new one, but the truth was that none of them knew how he felt, after all how could they and the fact that instead of letting him explain when he was ready they bombarded him like this, even going so far as to question his intelligence and sanity as Wally currently was, was just too damn much.

"What do you know!" Conner roared, causing the teen age speedster to stop mid sentence as he and the others stared shocked at Conner's outburst.

"You have no idea what it's like to live feeling incomplete, feeling like there's this giant gaping hole and there's nothing that you can do to fill it." the entire team stared as Conner inhaled deeply.

Richard couldn't help but to stare at the Kryptonian teen, he had no idea that Conner felt like that, and he was sure that the others didn't either. But that didn't change the fact that Conner didn't tell them about the fact that he could die.

"Conner we didn't know, it's just we found out that you could die and we panicked." Richard said softly hoping to prevent the volatile teen from blowing up again.

Conner inhaled deeply as he reined his temper back in, he knew that he shouldn't have blown up at them like that, there was just so much on his mind currently, too much he needed to get away. It was almost as if sphere had read his mind as the giant metal ball rolled next to him before shifting into its cycle configuration. The young half Kryptonian didn't need to think twice before he jumped into the vehicle that Wally had dubbed as the super cycle and took off.

The teen of steel couldn't suppress his smile as he raced across the sky, loving the freedom that came from being up so high, even if it wasn't under his own power. He knew that he shouldn't have taken off like that, they deserved a proper explanation he just didn't know how to explain it though. Because he wasn't lying about feeling like there was a piece of him missing, and he knew that the missing piece was the powers that he lacked. But at the same time he was worried about what could happen if he went through with the procedure and something went wrong, could he really put the team at risk for something as selfish as getting all his powers, he wasn't sure.

M'gann pulled her fifth batch of cookies out of the oven as she glanced at the kitchen clock again, Conner had been gone for the past four and a half hours and she had been worried about him for every second of them. And when she worries, the Martian girl starts baking, she had actually made so many that she doubted that even Wally could eat all of them alone.

The green skinned girl couldn't help but to look longingly at the empty couch and silent television set, wishing that she was sitting there snuggled against Conner's chest like they did most nights watching a movie. Only for her to fall asleep causing Conner to carry her to her room where he'd cover her up and gently kiss her on the lips, just like in all those romantic movies that he knew she loved so much. But instead he she was preparing to make another batch of cookies.

The sky had darkened considerably by the time that Conner pulled back into the garage, sphere returning to her usual configuration, and wolf waiting patiently for his master to return by the door. Conner wished that he could say that his time flying astride super cycle had helped him come to a conclusion about whether he was going through with the operation or not, but truthfully he was still as conflicted as he had been when he left earlier this evening.

The instant the garage door slid open, the teen's heightened sense of smell was assaulted by an almost wall of different aromas. The further into the cave that he traveled the stronger the aroma became. Conner almost chuckled as he turned the corner seeing the massive amount of cookies piled up around the kitchen, M'gann had made so many that she could have her own little bake sale. But the sixteen year olds amusement was short lived, feeling of guilt rapidly replacing them as he remembered that the Martian girl only went on a baking spree like this when she was worried, and considering the fact that he was most likely what had caused her that worry. He had barely begun to internally berate himself, when the teen's attention was stolen by the echoing bang of the metal cookie sheet slamming against the floor, mere seconds before M'gann slammed into him, her arms wrapping around him in a desperate hug, he could almost feel her fear at the prospect of him disappearing again.

M'gann couldn't help the tears that slowly trailed from her eyes, her relief that the boy she loved had returned almost overpowering, while at the same time she couldn't help but to fear that the teen would disappear again if she let go of him.

Conner gently wrapped his arms around her, still somewhat uncomfortable with showing his feelings. Another thing that the teen of steel knew he needed to work on, because he knew that Megan wanted to be able to kiss him in public or hold hands anything that would count as a public display of their relationship.

Time seemed to fade away as the two simply stood there, wrapped in each other's arms, nether wanted to destroy the peace by bringing up Conner's massive decision or the fact that he had taken off instead of talking to them about why he hadn't told them.

But Conner knew that it must be almost midnight and though he could go for at least a week without sleep, he knew that his girlfriend needed at least eight hours or she could be rather cranky. That fact resounding through his head led the teen to begin leading his girlfriend towards her bedroom, he could tell from the look that she kept shooting him that she didn't really want to go to bed, her fear that he'd be gone when she woke up shining in her eyes. But after a number of reassurances's, he finally managed to convince the Martian to go to bed.

It didn't take the young half Kryptonian long to reach his room, where he quickly changed into a pair of shorts before falling onto his bed. His thoughts once again drifting to the decision that he had to make, as well as the fact that the rest of the team still expected some kind of explanation from him about why he hadn't told them about the somewhat dangerous operation. Conner couldn't help but to sigh as he realized that he had a rather long night ahead of him.

**AN: hey everyone sorry about the long wait, I'd like to thank everyone who reviewed, followed or fav'd my story, for everyone who was hoping for the next chapter of ****an alien in Sunnydale year 2**** I'm sorry that I haven't gotten it out yet this chapter was just bouncing around in my head. That being said please remember to review. **


	3. Chapter 3

**Disclaimer: I don't own Young Justice; it is the property of DC Comics and Cartoon Network.**

Conner wanted to groan as his alarm clock went off, signaling that it was six thirty in the morning. Not that the teen of steel needed the alarm clock since he would have woken up the instant that the sun rose, at least any other morning. But the truth was that he hadn't slept at all the night before too preoccupied with everything that had been going on recently. He still had to figure out how to explain everything to the others, as well as decide if going through with the procedure was actually worth it.

Robin had spent the better part of last night trying to figure out why Conner hadn't told them about the operation, Batman had told him that Superboy hadn't agreed to undergo the dangerous procedure. But that didn't change the fact that Conner had once again hidden something that could potentially hurt the teen himself as well as put the team in danger.

At the same time though he understood that Conner had always been bothered by the fact that he didn't have full Kryptonian abilities, the teen hadn't hidden that fact as well as he had thought. But Richard still wasn't sure that he was okay with the fact that the older male was even considering going through with this.

M'gann had been awake for the better part of the past hour; she had spent most of it simply floating around the kitchen like she did every morning. The fact that she had done this almost every morning since the young Martian female had moved into the cave meant that she didn't really need to think about what she was doing, allowing her to mind to wander.

The green skinned young woman found herself thinking about all of the time that she had spent with Conner, both physically and telepathically, attempting to find out why he would keep the possibility of gaining his full abilities from them. As well as trying to understand why they were so important that he'd be willing to risk losing his mind and becoming like match, or worse dying.

Kaldur entered the mountain silently much as he always did, he was aware of both Wally and Artemis coming in shortly after him, but much like everyone else his thoughts were particularly focused on their dark haired friend. He had thought about everything that Conner had said when he blew up at them, and the half Kryptonian was right about the fact that they didn't understand how he felt. Realizing that made the Atlantean teen acknowledge the fact that they needed to talk to Conner again only this time they needed to actually talk to him.

Conner sighed as he looked at his alarm clock again, the digital clock telling him that it was now seven oh one. And since school was still currently out of session that meant that the team was most likely here by now. The dark haired teen was keenly aware of the fact that he still didn't know how to explain everything to his teammates, but he was also aware of the fact that they wouldn't leave him alone for long and that telling them that it was his decision and to simply mind their own business.

He was considering taking a shower just to give him more time, until the alarm began ringing throughout the cave alerting them to the fact that they had a mission. The Kryptonian teen couldn't help but to mentally muse on little miracles, as he quickly dressed before taking off down the hall towards the meeting.

Wally had expected a lot of things that morning, he had expected meeting up with his girlfriend in Gotham so that they could walk to the Zeta tube together, he had planned on seeing his friends, and he had expected to get back to questioning Superboy about just what the heck he was thinking even considering going through with this insane procedure just so that he might get full Kryptonian abilities. He had even figured that the Dark knight might appear on the big screen telling them they had a mission.

What the red head hadn't expected was for Batman to show up in person to tell them about the mission. As well as tell them that they had a new team member in the form of the creature from the black lagoon, or as they were being told Lagoon boy. And to make it even better the Atlantean seemed to be attracted to M'gann.

"Conner's not gonna like this." Wally whispered to Richard, to which the dark haired thirteen year old could only nod in agreement.

Conner came to an abrupt halt mere feet before the end of the hallway having no desire to seem like he had been in a rush to get to the meeting, he knew that there were no other signs of the fact that he had been running , as he didn't sweat nor was he short of breath.

The teen of steel rounded the corner calmly only to come to a halt when he noticed the fish like teen standing not too far from M'gann, and unless his super hearing was failing him the fish boy was flirting with his girlfriend. He was tempted to march over there and throw the boy across the room for trying to put the moves on his girl (as Wally would say) only to freeze as he realized that M'gann was most likely just trying to make the other boy feel welcome, and she'd probably get really angry at him if he was to throw the fish like teen, not to mention the fact the Batman was here, so instead Conner simply narrowed his eyes and glared at the atlantean teen as he made his way over.

M'gann could 'hear' the thoughts that were raging through her boyfriends head, and she was both glad and somewhat proud that the somewhat moody teen hadn't acted on his thoughts instead choosing to simply ignore La'gann's obvious advances.

Bruce wasn't oblivious to the obvious irritation that the fifteen year-old Atlantean was causing Superboy, but he also trusted Conner to put his anger to the side and get the mission done.

"There appears to be some new form of cobra venom being shipped out of Santa Prisca" Batman stated, while simultaneously bringing up a map of the island. "You need to find where the new venom is being created and destroy it" the dark knight finished before looking at the team.

Conner sighed as he and the rest of the team including the annoying amphibian flew in Miss Martian's bio ship towards the island of Santa Prisca. It was becoming abundantly clear that Lagoon boy had never been on a team before as he had spent the better part of the trip so far flirting with Conner's girlfriend, instead of strategizing or doing anything else.

Kaldur knew that La'gann's constant flirting was most likely irritating the Kryptonian teen, and he was immensely grateful that Conner hadn't torn his fellow Atlantean apart, but he couldn't help but to wonder how much more the relatively moody boy could take before he snapped. At the same time though he was even becoming somewhat frustrated at his fellow Atlantean's obvious lack of anything resembling humility as the younger atlantean was attempting to regal M'gann with tales of just how amazing he was.

M'gann could almost feel the anger that was radiating off of her boyfriend, as La'gann continued to flirt with her. She wished that he'd let her into his mind but at the moment he was so angry that his mind was somewhat foggy and hard to breach.

The remainder of the flight passed in much the same way, with La'gann continuing to try and impress M'gann with stories of his amazing feats at the conservatory, while Conner just became angrier and angrier. So that by the time they reached Santa Prisca Conner was almost praying for something to hit.

The team landed a half mile from where Bane's original Venom plant had been located in the hopes that if the villains were still using it they'd be able to get closer undetected.

Conner was somewhat relived when he found out that they'd be splitting into team's of two so that they could cover a larger area, his relief was cut short though when Aqualad paired M'gann with La'gann.

Robin was doing his best to look past Superboy's understandable anger over the fact that Kaldur had paired his girlfriend up with the guy that had been flirting with her since he had first seen her. After all he'd be just as angry if he was in Conner's position. But that didn't change the fact that they were currently supposed to be trying to find where the Cobra Venom was being manufactured.

"Straight ahead two-hundred feet" Conner whispered, causing robin's head to shift to the side. Some part of Conner wanted to groan as he realized that the boy wonder seemed to think that he'd let his irritation with the amphibian teen's incessant need to flirt with his girlfriend get in the way of the mission. In fact he had been using his infrared vision to scout ahead almost since the group had split apart.

The younger teen couldn't help but to grin, since they had found the base first he won his little bet against Wally. He was quick to shove those thoughts to the side though as he sent out an alert through the mind link.

Conner was quick to guess what Robin had done, he'd of done it himself if it wasn't for the fact that M'gann hadn't been able to properly link with his mind. She claimed it was because he was so mad, but Conner suspected it might have something to do with their new teammate. His assumption was proven correct a few seconds later when Wally arrived carrying Artemis, the rest of the team took another few minutes to reach the area.

After giving Aqualad and the team everything that he could tell from using his infrared vision, he couldn't help but to find himself wishing that he had X-ray vision instead. Was the teen of steel was quick to mention though was the fact that not only was Kobra in the factory, but he also had Bane, Mammoth and Blockbuster within the facility.

Richard couldn't help but to wonder just what they were going to do, it was hard enough to take on Mammoth or Blockbuster individually, but to take them on together was a whole new problem. The only one of them that could really take on either of those two one on one was Conner, and even then the half Kryptonian teen had some difficulty, so Richard was well aware of the fact that Superboy couldn't take them both on at once.

Conner glared as he turned away from the factory to look back at the currently arguing group, primarily Lagoon boy trying to claim that he could beat either Mammoth or Blockbuster, and the rest of the group arguing that he didn't know what fighting them was like. Conner was so focused on the argument that he almost missed the alight buzzing sound that had just recently started. Deciding that instead of listening to the braggart known as lagoon boy he'd rather figure out what was making that noise; the teen of steel once more began to focus on his hearing.

"Everyone move!" Conner roared as he lunged into the air, only to be blown backwards by an RPG. The team was quick to move behind tree's seconds before the area they previously were, was saturated with machine gun fire.

Wally was the first to react, easily slipping into super speed and disarming all of Kobra's henchmen.

Artemis was quick to follow her boyfriend's moves firing a multitude of her trick arrows, ranging from minor explosions that would disorient the henchmen, to gas arrows which would leave them lying unconscious on the ground.

Robin was quick to lunge into action, using many of the techniques that he had spent the past few years mastering to knock his opponents out, before disappearing back into the shadows as his mentor had taught him.

Kaldur was quick to pull as much moisture out of the ground as he could, creating two aqua hammers which he used to quickly begin dispatching his opponents left and right, while also keeping an eye on La'gann who had puffed up into his large more powerful form.

M'gann couldn't help but to wonder why Conner hadn't shown back up yet, she knew that an RPG wouldn't keep the incredibly powerful teen down, after all he had taken a tank round point blank and it had simply angered him.

Conner wasn't amused, he wasn't amused at all he had lunged into the air to take the RPG and protect his team planning to get back into the fight quickly; unfortunately the explosion knocked him into a mine which had then detonated launching him over a cliff. He had managed to dig his fingers in half way down, but since there wasn't anywhere for him to gain a decent foothold he was forced to scale the Cliff side by hand, forcing the teen to wish he could fly again.

La'gann couldn't help but to smile as he dispatched the last of the henchmen, he was about to shrink when he noticed two new henchmen the difference was obvious though as both were easily over seven feet tall, and heavily muscled. The first had bluish grey skin with red eyes; the second was more of a brown color with tears at different points of his body showing red muscles. La'gann heard Kaldur begin to give instructions and he was about to listen as well until he heard Aqualad make mention of holding them off until Superboy could get there and then to leave one to him. The fact that Kaldur would rather wait for the clone then to trust him angered the younger Atlantean, and instead of listening to the orders that Kaldur was giving La'gann charged at the Blue-grey monstrosity intent on taking it out by himself.

Kaldur wanted to growl as he saw La'gann charging at Blockbuster by himself, he knew that the younger Atlantean couldn't defeat the former scientist by himself, so thinking quickly he ordered both Robin and Artemis to go and back the amphibious teen up, while he, Wally and M'gann fought Mammoth. Aqualad couldn't help but to wonder just where Conner was.

The climb up the cliff had been slower than Conner would have liked, but the instant that he gained a solid foothold Conner lunged into the air. He could still hear the fighting even from hundreds of feet in the air, so using the sound almost like a beacon the dark haired sixteen year-old angled his decent to take him closer to the battle, only to propel himself skyward again the instant his feet touched the ground.

At the peak of his second jump Conner was able to see the fight, and as he watched Blockbuster throw the enlarged Lagoon boy into Artemis he knew even without his super hearing that she'd have some broken bones. He was relieved to see that the others were using their individual skills to bring Mammoth to his knees, knowing that the others would be able to defeat Mammoth without his help Conner angled his decent towards Blockbuster; he just hoped that his plan worked.

Robin groaned as he rolled to the left dodging Blockbusters massive fist already knowing that he had a few bruised if not fractured bones, before counterattacking with his taser, the electricity didn't really faze the large monster in fact it almost seemed that Blockbuster was amused at the thirteen year-olds attempt. But Richard hadn't been trying to hurt the large mutated human, he simply wanted to former scientist to remain still.

Conner wanted to smile as he noticed Blockbuster standing directly below him, so shifting his body just slightly Conner drew back his left fist and using the momentum from his fall Conner delivered a massive left cross onto the top of Blockbusters head, slamming the massive creature face first into the ground. Conner was quickly over to his injured teammates, it was easy to tell by the way that Robin was holding his side that the younger boy's ribs were damaged, and unfortunately Artemis was Unconscious, and judging by the bruising around her temple she could have a concussion. Conner's thoughts were ripped from his teammates though as he heard the shifting of stones coming from behind him, alerting him to the fact that Blockbuster was almost back to his feet.

"Get Artemis out of here." Conner ordered calmly, causing Robin to stare at the older teen in shock after all everyone on the team knew that Conner was loath to lead. But the younger male could also understand that Superboy wanted Artemis moved to safety, so even though he was loath to leave the older male to fight alone, he pulled the blond archers left arm over his shoulder before slowly moving them away.

Conner smirked as he heard Robin walking further away but only for a second as his face hardened before he took off towards Blockbuster, the massive blue-grey man charging at him. Conner managed to get the first hit in with a brutal right cross, only for Blockbuster to retaliate with a powerful left hook. The fight continued in this way both combatants simply pounding on the other. As the fight continued Conner couldn't help but to remember the last fight he had had with Mammoth when he was wearing a shield, he had been so much stronger, and faster. Unfortunately that millisecond of distraction was all that Blockbuster needed to get the upper hand, slamming a brutal right hook into Conner's face before following with a quick left hook. The fight quickly degenerated into Conner simply being pounded into the ground, until Kaldur smashed one of his aqua Hammers into the back of Blockbusters head forcing the mutated scientist to stumble forward, which was all the time that Conner needed to get back to his feet. Both Conner and Kaldur were ready to begin a joint attack on the large creature until a small grey pellet exploded in Blockbusters face, releasing a grey cloud of gas that if Conner was to guess by the small whiff that he had gotten was a rather powerful nerve gas, which caused the large former human to collapse. The teen of steel was about to question where the gas had come from until he noticed his older brother descending from above them; similarly Batman appeared from the shadows.

After Superman and Batman had appeared at the island the team was ordered to return to the mountain. Conner had spent the better part of the trip back as well as since they had returned to the mountain running over everything that had happened on the mission, as well as how it might have been different if he had full Kryptonian abilities, all thoughts about whether or not he should go through with the operation were erased as his super hearing zoomed in on the conversation in the medical bay.

Like he had thought Robin only had a few fractured ribs, Artemis on the other hand had slipped into a coma; Martian Manhunter claimed that it was only temporary and she'd come out of it soon enough. Conner couldn't help but to blame himself for Artemis's current state, if he hadn't been dragging his feet weighing the pro's and con's of going through with the procedure he would have had the abilities to get back to the team quicker.

That one thought fueled Conner as he stormed through the Zeta tube and all the way up to the meeting room in the watchtower. The half Kryptonian froze for a split second outside the massive double doors before pushing them open, interrupting the meeting.

"I want all my abilities."

**And that's the end of chapter 3, I hope that everyone liked it; I've been rethinking my position on giving Conner tactile telekinesis and I'd like to hear other's thoughts on whether he should have the ability or not. Also please review, constructive criticism is always welcome helps me become a better writer.**


	4. Chapter 4

**AN: Sorry about the long wait.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Young justice it's the property of cartoon network and DC comics.**

The room was silent, as all the members of the Justice League sat frozen in shock at the teen of steels exclamation. All thoughts of reprimanding the teen having left their minds as each was now lost in their own thoughts.

Dinah sat frozen; all she could think about was the fact that Conner had just proclaimed his desire to undergo a procedure that could kill him. Even as she looked at him now she still saw the angry young man that she had met just a little over a year ago.

Bruce sighed mentally as he realized exactly why Conner had all the sudden decided to undergo the procedure. The team had just finished a mission that had resulted in two of their members being injured one of which was currently in a coma, and just like the older Kryptonian that was sitting beside him would, Conner was blaming himself for their injuries.

Clark sat frozen his mind unable to process what his little brother had just said, he couldn't believe that Conner would just choose to go through with this without talking to him about it. After all he knew how important getting his powers was to Conner but he couldn't believe that Conner would be so selfish as to make the choice without at least talking to him about it.

Conner didn't flinch as the older hero's stared at him, even when his unearthly blue eyes locked with his older brothers. He could see the disappointment and confusion swirling in his brother's eyes, sending a pang of guilt surging through him, but only briefly as memories of why he was doing this flashed before his eyes, seeing Wally sitting beside Artemis's bed holding her hand and softly praying for her to wake up, Robin with his shirt off a large bruise forming on his side signifying the broken ribs that Conner didn't need X-ray vision to see.

Some part of Conner knew that their injuries weren't his fault; after all it was La'gann who had disobeyed Kaldurs orders, but he couldn't help but to feel guilty because if he had all of his powers then he could have gotten back to the team faster. That's why he had to do this; he couldn't be to late again.

Clark could tell the instant that he and Conner locked eyes, his little brother wasn't going to change his mind about this, he wasn't sure why Conner was so determined to go through with the procedure but somehow he knew that his earlier assumption that the younger half Kryptonian wasn't doing this for selfish reasons. And even though Clark didn't agree with the decision he'd stand by his little brother, because that's what big brothers did right.

Bruce knew by the look in Conner's eyes that the young man had made his decision and that nothing was going to change his mind. Knowing that the bat themed hero stood, signaling a pause in the leagues meeting, and rounded the table so that he could lead the younger male, Dr. Palmer and Clark Quickly following behind.

Conner said nothing as he followed behind the man known as the Batman, he couldn't help but to wonder what the procedure would actually entail. And if he'd have his full abilities when he first woke up or would they come slowly like Clark had told him his had.

Clark couldn't help but to wonder what was going through his little brother's head as they walked down the long hallway, he had figured out exactly where Bruce was leading them shortly after they had left the meeting chamber. After all there was only one room in this entire space station that had red solar lamps. His theory was proven correct as the group rounded the corner into a large circular room bathed in red light.

Conner wasn't sure why Batman had chosen to stop in this room; it seemed just like any of the others except that the lights were red.

As if sensing Conner's confusion Clark stepped forward and gently placed his hand on the younger males shoulder.

"This is where I spar with some of the other league members. The red solar lights simulate the same solar radiation as krypton, dampening my powers to near human levels." Clark was quick to explain there was more to it of course but he figured that was enough for the time being.

Conner couldn't help but to stare at his brother in shock, he had no idea that the league had a room specially designed just so that Clark could spar with others. It made Conner wonder if the team would have to do something similar for him.

Bruce knew that Clark wouldn't like what he was about to show them, but even knowing that Bruce resumed walking quickly crossing the room. He didn't need to look behind him to know that the other three were still following him, across the room and through the now open door.

Conner froze as he took in the new room, it was still bathed in red solar lights, but there were a few key differences between this room and the last. The main difference was the fact that an operating table sat in the middle of this room, with four manacles two on the sides and two on the bottom. All four had cables running from them down into the floor and below. Conner couldn't help but to step backwards as memories of his time in Cadmus, as well as nightmares that he'd had about labs screamed into his head.

Clark was furious; he couldn't believe that Bruce had built all this without telling him about it. The older Kryptonian had known that his friend tended to try and be prepared for any eventualities but Clark still couldn't believe that he'd do something like this without telling him.

Bruce sighed as he saw the look of cold fury that Clark was directing at him, he knew that the man wouldn't be happy about the fact that they had built this area, but he figured it was better to have this place built just in case Conner decided to undergo the procedure. Already knowing that Clark was going to be angry no matter what anyone said to the older Kryptonian Bruce turned to Conner and began explaining what was going to happen.

Richard was beyond angry as he stomped through the bat cave; he needed to talk to Bruce about the mission. A number of things had come to his attention when he was lying in bed rerunning the mission through his mind that morning, the main thing being that Superman and Batman had shown up, it caused Richard to wonder if it was just a coincidence that they had shown up, or if the team had been deliberately followed.

Knowing that Bruce was at a league meeting and he wouldn't be back for another few hours the dark haired thirteen year old grabbed his sunglasses and left the cave and mansion heading towards the zeta tube and from there to the Cave.

Wally groaned as he rolled his neck, he hadn't really moved too much since the night before. He was still in Mount Justice's Medical bay sitting beside his girlfriend's bed and holding her hand. He had talked to her a few times, nothing majorly important it was more to release energy than anything else.

The young speedster still couldn't believe how badly the previous mission had gone; he knew that the main reason that the mission had been such a fiasco was because of the Atlantean teen, who he could currently hear flirting with M'gann as the two walked down the hall. His blood boiled as he heard the amphibious teen gloating about how he had fought Blockbuster, amongst other things. Wally couldn't help the slight hope that Conner would hear La'gann bragging and then knock the amphibious teen back to the black lagoon.

Thinking about Conner, the red head was kind of surprised that the half Kryptonian teen hadn't stopped by since last night, usually when one of them was hurt Conner would stop by every few hours just to see if anything had changed, and if they were okay. Wally just hoped that the dark haired sixteen year old wasn't blaming himself.

Richard moved quickly through the Cave heading towards the medical bay hoping Wally was there. His hopes were realized when he rounded the corner into the sterile room, Wally was sitting right beside Artemis holding her hand just like he was when Richard had left the night before.

"Wally I need to talk to you" The raven haired youth proclaimed, causing the speedsters head to spin around in surprise.

"Yeah rob what's up?" he responded, going back to looking at his comatose girlfriend.

Robin was quick to begin explaining his theory to the sixteen year-old speedster, he watched as Wally's face shifted from shock, to confusion, then denial, until finally settling on out right fury. Richard was about to remind the older teen that it was only a theory until Wally admitted to having the same suspicions.

"What do we do if we're right?" Wally asked hoping that the younger boy might have an answer.

"I don't know, first we need to talk with Supey and Kaldur figure out what they think." Robin said as he looked at Artemis sadly, he knew that Kaldur had gone to Atlantis for some R and R, but he couldn't help but to be slightly surprised that he still hadn't seen Conner yet this morning.

"Have you seen Superboy?" Richard asked as he looked at Wally only for the red haired teen to respond in the negative. That kind of shocked Richard after all it wasn't like Conner had a lot of places to go to, plus it wasn't like the older raven haired boy to not check up on an injured team mate. The young detective began running through a list of places that the teen of steel might of gone to, only to freeze as he looked at Artemis, there was only one reason that he could think of that would cause Conner not to come check up on his teammate.

"oh god" Richard whispered in shock and terror as he turned and all but sprinted out of the room, Wally took off behind him in an instant wondering what had caused the usually calm boy to take off like that. It wasn't until he saw Robin entering the command for the zeta tubes to take him to the watchtower that Wally realized just what Conner might be doing.

Conner couldn't help but to groan in discomfort as the metal manacles began to really dig into his currently weakened flesh, Batman had explained that he would be rather uncomfortable for most of the procedure, as the first hour or so would be spent having him just lay under the red solar lamps to drain and dampen his abilities, that was about ninety minutes ago, and now he could really feel the manacles digging in to his wrists, Which meant that he was weakened enough that here in the next few minutes he'd be exposed to kryptonite, as well as pump full of enough electricity to drop a horse.

Clark sighed as he stood in the operating booth, staring out at his little brother lying there in nothing but his boxers. The older Kryptonian could see the fear shining in his little brothers eyes, and it was taking everything that he had not to rush in there and yank the younger boy free.

Just like Clark, Bruce could see the fear in Conner's eyes, and just like Clark he was slammed with the desire to help the boy, but he respected Conner enough that he would go through with the teen's wishes. He knew by the way that Conner was twisting his wrists, as if trying to find a comfortable position, that it was time.

Conner could hear the slight hiss of compressed air being released that Batman was opening the small lead chamber that rested in the floor right below the table. And then he felt it that horrible nauseous feeling that he had only felt once before, Kryptonite radiation. Even though the teen of steel had known it was coming, he still wasn't prepared.

Conner could handle the feeling that Kryptonite gave him without screaming, but the instant that the electricity hit his skin, Conner couldn't hold back his screams of agony. The raven haired teen had never been in so much pain in his life.

Clark couldn't help but to cringe as he watched his little brother lay there screaming, the youths back arching as if to try and get away from the pain. Without realizing it Clark was crushing the metal table that sat before him, his hands clenching harder and harder.

Bruce barely paid any attention to the fact that Clark was crushing part of the table, he was too focused on the internal scans of Conner that cycled every two seconds, he was watching for the moment that the inhibitors started self destruction. The dark knight knew that he'd have less than a few seconds to stop the electricity before it did irrevocable damage to the boy.

He was so focused that he barely noticed Robin and Kid Flash as they literally burst into the room, and charged at them. He was grateful though that Dr. Palmer managed to stop the two before they got too much closer.

Richard and Wally couldn't help but to stare in horror at Conner, unable to believe that it was the same teen who had managed to defeat them and Kaldur the first time they met. Knowing that they couldn't do anything to help him directly right now the two resigned themselves to praying for their friend.

Bruce smiled when he saw the scans show that the inhibitors were beginning to short-circuit, so with a quick flip of a switch the kryptonite was once again contained in a lead box, and the red solar lights shifted to release yellow solar radiation.

The Mans smiled faded though as he noticed that Conner wasn't moving, the yellow solar radiation should be healing him, but instead Conner remained motionless, as if dead.

Clark was frozen, Conner should be moving, why wasn't he moving? Horrified as hundreds of thoughts raced through his mind in an instant, and just as quickly he made up his mind on what he needed to do, so not even waiting for the door to open Clark forced his way through and tore the steel Manacles like they were paper, before he gently lifted his little brother into his arms and took off at super speed out of the room and then out of the watchtower airlock, his flight trajectory north towards the arctic.

Richard and Wally watched the man of steel as long as they could, and prayed that there friend would be okay.

**AN: I'd like to start by thanking everyone who reviewed, favorite, or followed my story, I hope that this chapter was enjoyable. Also for those who like Superboy stories I'd like to suggest **_**Red Canary **_**by dorkmaster42. I hope that I answered at least some of the questions that the last chapter left as well as created some more. With all that said please Review and have a great day.**


End file.
